AND ANOTHER THING…
For the first time — on Opening Night, 1986 — the Shreveport Captains line up at Fair Grounds Field. (Shreveport Journal photo)
in 1986 to overflow crowds and was home to the San Francisco Giants Class AA-affiliate Captains for 14 years, it now defines “aged poorly.” Mother Nature can be a beast; I wouldn’t walk through those old hallowed grounds now after four tetanus shots and wearing a hazmat suit. I’d hoped back then it’d be built on the river, and people getting off work would hear the music and the P.A. and batting practice and start wandering down after work. My dreams were big. Never did I imagine it would become a luxury condo for flying mammals. Soon it’ll be gone. For good. Though in all honesty, the ballpark left a long time ago.
She was
But there was a time …
MORE THAN
FAIR BY TEDDY ALLEN
T
he sweet smells of hot dogs and nachos rode the summer wind then, back when Fair Grounds Field was a baseball arcade, a giant toy where the Shreveport Captains played, a diamond of Texas League titles and All-Star games.
But the once noble 4,200-seat stadium, which for 16 years provided summer fun and created lifelong memories for area baseball fans, will soon be brought to its concrete knees. By now we all know that Fair Grounds Field is scheduled to be demolished around the end of the summer or this fall, and not a minute too soon. If the city waits until Christmas, maybe the accumulated bat poop alone will cause it to collapse. It hasn’t hosted an event since 2011, back when Green Bay (Super Bowl), the Dallas Mavericks (NBA), and Charl Schwartzel (Masters) were champions, and Hangover II was a hit. Since, it’s slumped slowly by Interstate 20, an obvious victim of time, weather, weeds, hobo animals, and lack of care. How the demolition company hired to bring it down will do so, well, that’ll be a sight to see. It’ll take a minute or two; there’s enough concrete in that thing to pave Powhatan. It’s a demented fantasy to think it can be saved in any sort of way practical. Precious memories of double plays and double dates don’t dismiss an ugly reality that the one-time red carpet-worthy movie star of yesteryear is now Norma Desmond on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Don’t Go Near That Place. A shame for sure, but what’s done is done. It wasn’t built in the best spot, wasn’t built in the best way, and although it opened
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Soft serve in a little plastic batting helmet. Children running the bases after a game. The Captains Club for kids (18 bucks a year, and that’s including a T-shirt!) Terri and Jon and Taylor in the front office, and all they were was perfect… Season tickets and friends in Section 105. Free Arnold Palmers in the press box. The beer garden. The (Hated) Jackson Mets. Sticky nights and kids playing catch outside the visitors’ bullpen… Calvin Murray and Royce Clayton, Damon Minor and Jeff Brantley, Wendell Kim and Ron Wotus and Texas League championships in 1990, ’91, and ’95. Mackey “The Hacker” Sasser. Craig Mays. Benji Simonton… “Preacher” lyrically working the stands.“Old Mother Hubbard, went to the cupboard, to fetch herself a beer. But she didn’t have any ’cause I have them all right here.” … Charlie Hayes. Charlie Corbell. Romy and Medvin and Yorvit Torrealba. Jason Grilli. Everett Graham. Todd Thomas. Deron McCue. Former Tennessee quarterback Alan Cockrell… Little League teams standing on the field in their little uniforms, caps over their little hearts by the Captain of their choice during the National Anthem. Headlines and game stories and features in the Shreveport Journal and in The Times the next day. Box scores and the agate page. Checking today’s starters and “Daddy, can we go tonight?” … She was never the prettiest girl in town. Well … maybe she was for a short while. But still, for the longest time, she was quite the looker. And everybody had to look. You were helpless not to. Remember the magic number? 318.636.5555. Try it if you want.“The number you have reached is not in service…” But once, it was. And it was a beautiful thing. Teddy Allen is an award-winning columnist and graduate of Louisiana Tech, where he works as a writer and broadcaster.
